Portable roof



' (No Model.)

B. RANKIN, Jr. PORTABLE ROOF.

Patented May 5, 1891.

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q vi/bwaooea UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND RANKIN, JR,

OF. LINCOLN, ILLINOIS.

PORTABLE ROO F.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,572, dated May 5,1891. Application filed fa'eptemher 11,1890. Serial No. 364,672. (Nomodel.)

T0 to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND RANKIN, Jr., a citizen of the United States,residing at Lincoln, in the county of Logan and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Roofs, Sheds,&c., of which the following is a specification,-reference being hadtherein to the accompanvi ng drawings. U

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents aperspective view of one form of my roof or shed, a portion of the rooflug-boards and one of the gable ends being removed for the purpose ofbetter showing the invention; Fig. 2, a side view of a pair of raftersof a slightly-different form from those shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 adetail perspective view of one of the supports for the side or roofingboards.

The invention, briefly speaking, is designed to provide a portable shedor roof that will be very simple and substantial in construction, andwhich may be readily erected and taken down withont the employment of.bolts, nails, or other fastening devices, as will more fullyhereinafter appear.

- In the drawings annexed, A designates curved metallic rafters orsupports for the boarding or planking. These rafters curve 1n towardeach other at their upper ends and are there pivoted together. Two pairsor more of these rafters may be employed, according to the length of thestructure desired; but I find that two pairs, as shown in Fig. 1, areusually sufficient. The rafters or supports of each pair are braced withrespect to each other by horizontal connecting-braces B B, each of whichis composed of a pair of arms pivoted to the beams at their outer endsand to each other at their inner overlapped ends, one of the arms ofeach pair being provided with a lug a to hold them in alignment whenonce set. To adjust the pitch of the roof, one of the arms of each pairmay be provided with a series of holes for the reception of the pivotalconnecting-bolt b, by which means the supports may be spread or drawnin, as the exigencies of the case may require. These braces or staysconnect the rafters near their upper ends. The upper portions of thesupports form the rafters of the roof and the lower straighter portionsform the vertical studding of the side of the structure.

- The supports are connected together and held in a vertical position bythe boards G, secured on their outsides by means of depending pivotedmetallic. hooks D. These boards are uniform in width and thicknessconfined in the U shaped port-ions of thehooks. In erecting the shedthelower planks are first placed in position in the lower hooks. Thenthe next hooks are turned down over the upper edges of the lower planks,these hooks and all those above the lower ones being provided withshoulders adapted to set over the upper edges of the planks and formabutments to hold them in position.- The next planks are then placed inposition with their lower edges in the second hooks, and so on up untilall the boards are in position and the sides of the roof or shed arecompleted. By forming the shoulders in the hooks the hook portionsthereof are brought down in boards below, thereby not only holding themin place, but also causing the upper boards to lap over the upper edgesof the boards next below, so as to shed and carry off the water. Thehooks are shown pivoted in Fig. 1, so that they may be readily turneddown over the upper edges of the planks as fast as the latter are put inplace; but it is evident that the hooks may be made rigid and the planksinserted endwise, or they may be provided with vertical slots D, so thatthey may be lifted or swung around out of the way while the planks nextbelow are being put in position, as shown in Fig. The ends of thestructure may or may not be closed, as the exigencies of the case mayrequire. The end boards are supported and held in place in the same way,the only difference being that they become shorter toward the top, asshown at one end of Fig. 1.

Instead of constructing the supports as shown in Fig. 1that is to say,plain metallic beams provided with shouldered hooks-the rafters orsupports may be constructed of wood and formed with shoulders to oversetthe upper edges of the boards, as shown in Fig. 2. In this case thehooks D need not be provided with shoulders, as shown. In this andlength, and their lower edges rest and are front of the figure also thebeams or rafters are shown straight instead of curved.

It is obvious that this invention may be used fora great variety ofpurposes. It may be used to cover hay and grain in stacks, forsheltering stock, fruit, and garden produce, for covering farm machineryand vehicles of all kinds, and as a poultry-house. It may also be usedas a tent or portable cabin or house and also as a cover or shed forprotecting green brick in piles and various other purposes. By employinglonger planks the structure may be lengthened and its capacity greatlyincreased. lVhen employed to cover hayor grain stacks, the braces at thetop will rest on the hay, forming a ventilating-charm her in the top ofthe roof.

Its great advantages are its simple and substantial construction and theease and dispatch with which it may be erected and taken down andremoved from place to place as oocasion may require.

Having thus fully what I claim is 1. The combination of metallic hooksdescribed my invention,

supports, dependin secured thereto and bent outwardly and downwardly toform shoulders, and boards restingin these depending hooks, theshouldered portions of the said hooks setting over and embracing theupper edges of the boards, whereby the latter will be caused to overlapeach other when put in place, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with supports, of hooks pivoted to the said supportsand overlapping boards adapted to rest in the said hooks, substantiallyas described.

3. The combination of the supports or rafters pivoted together at theirupper ends, a jointed brace pivotally connecting the supports, and hookssecured to the outside of the supports for thereception of removableplanks, substantially as described.

-l. The combination of the I hooks pivotally supports and the connectedto and vertically adjustable thereon, substantially as described. Intestimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.EDMUND RANKIN, JR.

Witnesses:

'l. T. BEACH, Luwrs J. SIMS.

